Into You
by RedPineappleDancingAtNoon
Summary: Out of nowhere Lance pulls Keith into a passionate kiss, kick starting a series of secret moments between them. Keith isn't exactly fighting Lance's advances but he's not initiating anything either. Lance finds himself head over heels but questions if Keith is just letting him mess with him for ease, or if deep down he secretly has feelings in return. Rated M for mature scenes.
1. Chapter 1

_I pushed him back against the wall, my mouth hard on his lips._

 _"Lance, what the hell?!" Keith exclaimed, pushing me back, voice several octaves higher than usual._

 _"That," I said wiping my lips on my sleeve. "Was for earlier."_

 _He stared at me with a strange expression of confusion and shock. I could almost hear the gears turning in his brain as he tried to kick-start his thoughts and remember if he'd said or done anything to prompt this. Confused Keith was nothing short of adorable._

 _I shot him a smile and, turning on my heel, stalked up the corridor._

And that's how it all started: snatches of kisses and a grapple of hands just out of sight of the Castle's security feed, when the team's backs were turned… when we found ourselves unexpectedly alone. The best part in all this? I always caught Keith off guard. In all our years of trying to outdo one another, in this arena I was the outright winner by default.

Okay, so before you sue me for sexual harassment and or blackmail, let me come clean about why;

At first it was absolutely driven by passion. I liked Keith a lot and, yeah, it took me a heck of a long time to realise that I didn't just like him like I did everyone else (hats off to me because he's a difficult son of bitch so yay) – but once I knew, I couldn't get him out of my head. Every look, the way he said things, how driven he was to fight like some emo dark knight - I simultaneously loved and hated it when he dived head first into battle. There's a lot to admire in how he selflessly puts himself on the line, but he was selfish to think that his life could be so easily thrown away. In the last battle, I watched Keith literally throw himself into the line of fire 'for the good of humanity' and it scared me. Scared me silly. That's what led to our crazy first kiss.

After that it was all on me and I'm shamefully unashamed. I just wanted to kiss him, get close with him. Heck I'm kinda proud how long I've been able to surprise him and get away with it.

It's important to say though as soon as he stepped away or pushed me back or said anything, I would back off. I'm not that much of a dick. And if he told me to stop I probably would. Don't get me wrong, I was counting down the seconds to Keith going ape at me and I completely deserved it.

But that hadn't happened yet which surprised me no end.

At this point I started to wonder what his thoughts were. Did he secretly like it? Did he like me or was this just me stretching my fantasies over reality? Or was Keith so utterly rubbish at any social circumstance that he genuinely didn't know what to do and just hoped I'd get bored or something- What if he'd asked Shiro for advice?! That would be hilarious… but also so, so embarrassing-

"Earth calling Lance, come in Lance."

I blinked, pulled out of my thoughts by a very annoyed Pidge clicking her fingers in my face. She sighed, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. I readied myself for either a lecture or something suitably sarky.

"Sorry to shatter whatever strange fantasy you were playing out, but you need to concentrate on the wires. Unless you want to electrocute yourself and every living thing on this Level then, please, _do_ carry on ignoring me."

"Were you thinking about mermaids again? You had that expression on your face when you think about mer… maids…" Hunk caught the killer glint in Pidge's eyes and fell into silence.

I humph-ed loudly in response. I-was-bored-out-of-my-mind. Especially now I could no longer enjoy watching Keith – I was helping Pidge cut and rewire while Keith held the top of the panel in place: I couldn't gawp when we were side to side.

It was Week 4 of what I call 'Operation Love Assault on Keith' – not the catchiest of titles but it was clear on the intentions. I'd ventured out of my room just at the right moment and clocked Keith helping Hunk pull power panels off the walls just outside of the hangar. Seeing that mullet head ripping apart the corridor wall was nothing short of 'wow'. Unfortunately I'd gawked in the shadows like a stalker fangirl for a little too long and Pidge caught me and signed me up to help.

My mind must have wandered again because before I knew it Pidge had stormed off with Hunk puppying along behind her, shouting about finding another wire or something, and that I was useless.

I stood and stretched-

"Hey, watch it," Keith barked.

I turned with a smirk. "Sorry, didn't you there, buddy."

He sighed angrily. "You know that I need to hold this in place for Pidge and now, thanks to you, I have to wait like this until she comes back _because you couldn't concentrate for five ticks_!"

"A man's gotta think about, what a man's gotta think about, Keith."

"About mermaids though?" His voice did that scratchy thing which only happened when he got riled. Hot and cute. How unfair was he?

Mullet head went on to say something lecturer-y about taking jobs seriously or something about being an adult. Meanwhile I took a moment to admire the taught muscles of his arms solidly holding up the panel. I mean, I tried not thinking letchy thoughts but… Keith. Muscles. Being extra manly.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was when I saw another golden opportunity and took it.

Keith was still going on about whatever when I moved to stand just to the side, behind him. I reached up and placed a hand over his on the panel.

"…What are you doing?"

Smirking, I turned my face slightly to reply: "Just giving you a hand."

I realised just how close we were and if I was an easy blusher, I'd be crimson. Keith on the other hand had a beautifully pale complexion and any slight pinkness had a tendency to really shine.

"It's okay! I got it!"

Inside I was beaming. It was so easy to mess with him.

Around us the castle was silent and I couldn't resist shuffling closer. I slid my hand from its place over his hand and down his toned arm to join its twin resting on his chest. My head gently rested behind his shoulder and I took a deep, long breath, pulling myself closer to him.

"What- What on earth?! Lance!"

Slowly I brought my hands down, teasing him. I changed course last minute, my hands moving back up his body beneath his shirt, skin on skin. A shiver moved through him along with a sharp intake of breath. I was probably dancing on the edge of danger but I wanted more.

While I wasn't the most experienced of people, I knew exactly how to turn up the heat. I placed my lips at the base of his neck. Gently, gradually, I made my way round his neck with kisses.

"Lance, so help me…" he hushed, a warning tinting his words.

Overly tense, I noticed his arms shaking slightly from the pressure of holding the panel in place and my antics. It was time to quit this round. The fun was over and things, one way or another, were getting serious. My hands retreated from beneath his shirt and I pulled away almost as quickly as I'd originally wrapped myself around him.

"Perhaps I will think about mermaids next time," I mused, noting the blush across his face.

With that I wandered away, leaving him to think about where my hands had been. Where they'd almost been.


	2. Chapter 2

In comparison to my initial assault, I was nowhere near as predatory as I had been. In fact this past week I hadn't needed to fight the urge to pull him unexpectedly into a room and smash my lips against his.

Keith had never really told me to stop or completely leave him alone. Occasionally his body betrayed him, but was that just because I knew what I was doing and, silently, he really didn't want to…? I didn't want to think about that too much. All I knew for sure was that things had started to become less thrilling and more serious as I poured more and more emotion into my actions. I wanted a bigger return and I wasn't getting it. Not even close. It was starting to be, well, kinda' sad.

All morning I was in a mixed state of drudgery and hopefulness. A smile was pinned in place just in case anyone questioned me and it all came gushing out – so, yeah, mentally a bit of a mess.

 _It's over, Lance. It's_ freaking _over. Get him out of your head. You've had your fun and now it's finished._

Luckily I'd dragged myself into the mess hall at the same time as Hunk who looked like he'd slept hardly a wink. Usually I'd have teased him for staying up all night and being all geek-y over whatever new program he was running or building but I stayed quiet, grateful that he stole everyone's attention so even if my smile did slip slightly, it was hardly noticeable.

It was as if there was a lot on everyone's minds this morning as we sat round the table eating in near silence. I wished it was loud and exuberant – even if I didn't feel like it at least it would have filled my brain up with distractions. Instead I was left with a growing number of questions about my actions, my feelings and what I wanted and didn't want-

The silence was broken quite suddenly by Keith: "Was it because I almost sacrificed myself during the last battle?"

His eyes settled on me intently. His hand holding a spoon heaped with food paused mid-air as if his body was frozen by the sudden thought. The cutest perplexed expression washed over his face, eyebrows knitted together, eyes wide and animated.

 _Interesting…_

I could feel everyone's eyes slide from Keith over to me sat at the opposite side of the table.

"Nope," I replied, eyes returning to my bowl apparently disinterested.

I was intensely conscious that everyone was analysing everything for an explanation and, just in Pidge's case, anything juicy to tease about later: Pidge totally knew I was into Keith big time but she kept it quiet. We hadn't spoken about it and she never asked, but I knew she knew that I knew she knew. Knowing Pidge the only thing she really wanted to get out of the potential 'reveal' would be to say that she knew first. I'm a generous guy; she could have that privilege in the unlikely scenario that it ever happened.

 _Oh man, now I'm thinking of us officially together-_

Keith let out an exasperated sigh. "Seriously?!"

In truth I'd forgotten what I'd said all those weeks ago when all this started… I'd insinuated that he'd done something to warrant my advances which, in fairness, he had. Of course it was far more complicated than even I'd anticipated… especially on my part.

I smirked at him. "Looks like another point for me. Lance has all the points. Keith _nil points_."

I got a growl in response. _Excellent work Lance._ The tight knots that had been growing in my stomach since dawn seemed to unwind.

"Have you guys got a bet going on or something?" Hunk asked. He narrowed his eyes and stared at me suspiciously before adding: "Or some kinda' blackmail?"

"Lance, Keith. Seriously, I thought we'd got over this rivalry," Shiro stated, pinching the bridge of his nose with a look of despair.

I felt a bit guilty _buuuuut_ I was really enjoying all of this. Especially how much it irritated Keith.

There were two incredibly perfect elements to this moment. One, no one but us had any idea what was really going on, our rivalry and history of one-upmanship was a flawless cover. Secondly, and most importantly, Keith was talking about _it_ openly. Like, yeah, he wasn't shining a giant spotlight on us and discussing things in graphic detail, but he was thinking about it. He was telling _me_ that he was thinking about it. I know it sounds stupid but this was our little something.

Before my thoughts could wander into more dangerous, serious territory – that he was interested and this, whatever this actually was, was something he might want too – I took my leave from the mess hall bagsying dibs on the pool as an excuse to hurry away.

Once out in the corridor and alone, I let out a long sigh.

It was a thing. Not just all in my head. An actual thing. _Wasn't it?_

The doors sounded behind me-

"Keith…" his name tumbled from my lips before it registered in my brain. _Damn it._

He stopped mid-stride past me. "Yeah?"

I didn't want conversation.

This WAS a thing. I was sure of it.

Before I could stop myself I grabbed his wrist, pulling him stumbling forwards. I placed my lips on his lightly- He quickly pulled away and we stood there, arm's length apart, statue still, just staring at one another.

A million emotions flooded through me. _I ruined it, I ruined everything-_

Without warning his hands found my face and he pulled us together. Lips moving on lips.

 _Oh God…_

Eventually we pulled away. Our breathing heavy and laboured. I couldn't see anything else, think about anything except for the here and now. Keith. Everything was Keith. Our faces were still dangerously close, our foreheads merely centimeters apart.

My right hand reached up and clasped round his on the side of my face.

I carefully watched his expression but couldn't decipher anything. He was staring fixated at my lips, where his had been merely seconds ago. Slowly, he raised his gaze to meet mine. There – electricity shot between us. My heart was thundered, threatening to burst.

More. I wanted more.

But I daren't move.

He moved forwards slightly, as if to kiss me again- _Please…_ Then stopped still. His eyes wandered again from my lips back up to my eyes and this time I could read his confusion. As quickly as he'd pounced, he pulled away. His hand gently brushing away from under mine.

Paralysed, his touch still burning through me, I found myself unable to do or say anything as he turned away from me. After a moment of hesitation he started up the corridor in the other direction. His pace quickly morphed from a walk to something brisker until he was jogging away, rounding a corner and out of sight.

 _What... What just happened?_

The sound of Shiro and Coran's voices approaching through the mess hall doors shocked me out of my petrification.

Slowly, quietly, I started away until I was clear of the first corridor. I pegged down the next and the next until I found my room. I smashed back against my door, sliding down into a heap of sharp breaths and frantic thoughts as I heard my door lock.

My fingers found my lips. I lightly touched where he had been moments ago.

 _Keith Kogane…_

Did he want me too? Or... was he playing me at my own game?


	3. Chapter 3

I'd fantasied for weeks about Keith wrapping himself round me and taking the initiative. _Why am I so confused?!_ I wanted him so badly but I wanted him to want _me_ too. That moment felt like I finally had him – we were a thing just waiting to blossom – but his face afterwards…

It'd been a few days since what I lovingly refer to as 'the incident'. Barely a wink of sleep had laid its weight on me as my mind revisited every second of the last few weeks in intense detail – what was said, what was done, what _I'd_ done – and then that reaction…

Since the incident we had carried on as near usual although there was an aura of awkwardness between us – probably unnoticeable to everyone else but it felt like a stage and spotlight to me. I hated this. What I hated more was that every time I glanced at the mullet head, even just in regular save-the-world conversation, he would look away or distract himself.

Was I on his mind as much as he was on mine?

Before all this idiocy – yes, I know, started by yours truly – my mind often crazily wondered about the future and who would be by my side. Once upon a time I'd imagine whoever it was I was currently dating or had a major crush on, usually changing weekly if not daily. For a long time now all I could think about was Keith Kogane. Even when I didn't want to think about him or tried thinking of Allura or someone else, it always came back to Keith. It used to be hot. Now it was torture.

He was driving me insane.

"Get some sleep, Lance. You look exhausted." I blinked up at Shiro. With a smile he gave me a sympathetic pat on the back as he passed me out of the hangar.

We'd be in serious trouble if the rest of the team genuinely needed my input out in the field today – luckily the mission had been a simple one. Unfortunately so simple that my brain went into autopilot as I flew Blue while my thoughts were consumed by what was becoming the biggest problem in my life.

Pidge and Hunk were babbling incessantly about something techy and, there beside me, there was my problem. Keith was operating the external hangar doors at the control panel. Our eyes caught for the briefest second and – there it was – that strange perplexed expression on his face, jaw ticking in apparent frustration as he quickly busied himself and then started for the doors.

Our group wandered out of the hangar and started back to our quarters for some much needed R&R. Pidge waved cheerfully as she and Hunk continued on past my bedroom stop. Keith, still keeping his eyes thoroughly diverted, tried to hurry past.

 _Gods. I need to do something or this will go on forever._ I sighed. _It's now or never…_

"Dude, I need to talk to you."

We simultaneously looked up the corridor and watched Pidge and Hunk disappear out of sight.

"What is it-?"

I stopped him, my mouth swallowing his words. My hands found his face and tightly cupped either side of his chiselled jawline. I hadn't intended to kiss him but I found it so hard to resist – if I was only going to be in this position one last time I was going to make it count. We could look back and laugh at this, surely?

Eventually I pulled away from him, one of my hands lingering on his face just a second longer, memorising the feel of my touch on his skin. I cringed at the sound of my ragged breathing – I was so nervous my chest felt like it was trapped in a vice and my oxygen was being dangerously rationed.

I daren't take a step away for fear my nerves would kick in and my legs would turn to jelly – all this was embarrassing enough without me face-palming the floor through a mixture of fear and crazed hormones. That and I so desperately wanted him to scoop me up and kiss me… _Lance, head out of the clouds, man. Not gonna' happen._

For the next minute we just stared at one another silently. Each second that passed felt like an eternity. Each second that passed made me want to curl up and die, as I began to ready myself for a push, a shove, a barrage of verbal abuse… But nothing, literally nothing, happened.

 _For the sweet love of endless space, why isn't he saying anything?! Why am I not saying anything?!_

My heart was now thundering so loud I swear the guys would hear it all the way to the control room… My eyes darted quickly up the corridor to check we were still alone. If he was going to shoot me down or whatever I didn't want an audience-

"Lance-" the sound of his voice silenced my whirlwind of thoughts. "That really wasn't talking."

 _What._

 _The Hell._

"And I can't reply to anything unless you actually talk to me." I must have been gawping like a goldfish because his whole demeanour seemed to soften. "But don't kiss me again. Please," he added quickly, his voice going up an octave. My heart deflated slightly as he held his hands up to extenuate his point, like I was going to launch myself on him. Again. "I… Look, I don't know what's going on and… I just don't know… about… me."

I sighed, defeated, and looked down at my feet. _So that was basically a no then… Great. Now I have to live and work alongside the idiot for – let me see – the rest of my life, knowing that I kissed him and made a complete and utter fool of myself! More to that, that I made him kiss me and deep down he probably didn't want to! I'm a horrible human being- Trash-_

A gentle hand sat on my shoulder. I looked up and Keith smiled at me but I couldn't bring myself to attempt to return it.

"I need to train. Let's… talk later. Yeah?"

I felt myself nodding but internally I was screaming.

Keith didn't wait for a reply. Calmly he started away from me.

No.

His kiss the other day: that meant something. If this was my moment to explain, to confess, well, now was the time. The only time. Or I was afraid we continue avoiding each other and talking about _this_ forever.

I'm happy to play for both teams but I don't want people to look at me differently for being 'that guy who will date your daughter _and_ your son'. I don't want to be that guy no other guy can be friends with just in case he 'turns on them'. I've seen it happen and it's not pretty. And I don't want to be alone. I hate being alone. If anything I wanted to be close again with Keith, even if it was just as friends – I didn't want to lose him completely. I know that's rich coming from someone that literally stalked another guy like prey to be inappropriate, but this felt real.

"This isn't cabin fever or, like, a prank."

My brain was moving a mile a minute – it was like it was three conversations ahead and my body was only just catching up. I had no comprehension of what I was saying. I was just _saying_.

He stopped and turned to look at me, a strange expression washed over his face.

I gulped. I was going to say it… apparently whether I liked it or not.

"I like you, really like you. Okay?" He didn't move. "I'm not ashamed that I feel this way and even if you don't like me back, that's not going to stop me liking you."

He continued to stand statue still, saying nothing. Hurt and fury started to bubble through me as I started to wish he had pushed me away and tore out my heart – anything would be easier than dealing with non-answers and shrugging away the subject.

"There's always been something there – you have to admit that – but how I feel now, my feelings for you, it's all I can think about. Lance and Keith. Keith and Lance." I could feel a hot blush inching over my face as my voice got louder, my words bouncing off the walls of the corridor.

He responded quickly in hushed tones: "I think we should talk later-"

"I want to talk now."

The tick above his eye pulsed.

"Lance. Seriously. Later." He turned to walk away again, but I tugged on his sleeve to stop him.

"Do you honestly have nothing to say to me? I told you that I liked you-" He tried to escape again, this time trying to brush past me a little more aggressively, but I countered the aggressiveness , pulling him back round to face me. "Why can't you say your feelings point blank?! I can take it!"

Keith stared at me. Hard. "Final warning, Lance. Let-me-go."

I didn't care. I grabbed his wrist again, stopping him.

"I want you, Keith! It's driving me insane!"

" _You're_ driving _me_ insane!"

Suddenly I was against the wall, my spine crashed into the cold metal corridor panels. Before I could piece together a very creative swear I clocked him coming closer towards me. Anger flooded through me. It was fight or flight and as much as I loved his breathtakingly perfect features I wasn't about to let that mullet brain throw the first fist.

He caught my punch with ease, pulling my arm up, catching the other to pin above my head against the wall. Next to my head, his free hand smashed to the wall.

"You're-driving-me-insane," he repeated, this time slower, his tone biting.

I stared into him, my blood boiling. He wasn't going to shake me.

Keith stared back defiantly. For a second his breath caught and his eyes briefly flittered round my face, before returning to my eyes with so much fire. I remained still as he seemed to randomly lose some of the wind in his sails. More than ever I wanted to be inside his head.

As suddenly as I'd thrown my punch, he leaned in and his lips were briefly but hard on mine.

His eyes danced, scanning my face. His jaw tight.

My mind was severely paused as I struggled to comprehend what was happening.

After a beat, Keith leaned in, lips capturing mine again.

He pulled away and looked at me. The fire still burned in his eyes but now I wasn't so sure if it was all anger… All I knew was that I wanted to get lost in the intensity.

It was my turn now, with Keith visibly floundering. I lent forwards, meeting him in the middle as we kissed again, this time harder, hungrier. His free hand grasped my face as our kisses started to deepen. I couldn't help but gasp as I felt his tongue touch mine and intertwine.

His hand started down my neck, travelling further and further down, to linger on my hip. I could feel his fingers shaking against my skin, unsure.

We breathed into one another, catching the moment – this was so crazy, yet so, so right. He relaxed his grip on my hands and I brought mine either side of his face and hovered my lips over his, not quite touching, just teasing.

My hand found his hips and I dipped my fingers just below the beltline at the small of his back, slowly drawing my fingers along and round until they met at the front. In a wave of heat and want I pulled him round and pushed him against the wall. There we moved almost as one, his hands tangled in my hair as my hands roamed under his shirt, clawing at his back, as I desperately pulled him as close to me as possible.

I was so into him I could barely breathe…

Our mouths were moving against one another again. I caught his moan as I bit his lip, my hands back to his hips, pulling him hard against me. We paused, his hot breath lingering on my skin.

His eyes looked towards my bedroom. I followed his gaze to the door and back again. _Oh sweet Jesus…_ My heart skipped a beat. This. This was the hottest point in the entire freaking galaxy right now. I needed to calm down for fear my heart would explode… that or something else soon would.

"I've been waiting for you to make the first move," I whispered into his ear.

He smiled, his breathing still ragged. That smile…

I kissed him lightly, softly.

"I think you should sleep on this, Keith, before we do anything really serious." I hated to be a cock block, especially with the fine specimen before me, but I couldn't shake it from my head that merely minutes ago we were arguing and he proclaimed that he didn't know how he felt. I wanted him. Badly. But this was the right thing to do. "Sorry."

He smiled and looked down briefly, gathering his thoughts. "Yeah. I think that's a good call."

"I'll… see you later."

There, our hands briefly gripped one another's, before we separated and we started, eventually, walking away in different directions. As I got to my door I tried to stop myself from doing what every couple did in the movies: cringing, I turned to watch him go, hoping he'd turn around. Just when my brain kicked in and remembered that this was Keith on the agenda and he didn't know anything about people skills, he turned with a sheepish smile.

 _God I hope he wants me still tomorrow._


	4. Chapter 4

I didn't want to admit it but I was head over heels.

Lance McClain and Keith Kogane. It even rhymed.

Your boy "Loverboy Lance" wasn't a virgin. Surprise, surprise. More importantly though, gender didn't feature too prominently in my love equations – if I liked someone, I liked them, and I'd made my peace with that. It was no secret that I'd had my share of passionate moments in the dark corners of dance floors and empty campus rooms with more than a handful of gorgeous ladies. Hell, I was known for it. My adventures with guys, however, were kept under lock and key. I'd never slept with a guy but I'd had my fair share of heavy flirting behind closed doors or, mainly, when Hunk was otherwise distracted when we were out on the town during our garrison days.

But sleeping with Keith? I didn't care if I didn't know exactly what I was doing and I'm sure as hell he wouldn't know any more than I did. But I wanted it, more than anything. Especially now I couldn't stop thinking about how he'd looked over at my bedroom door as we made out. He wanted to take it further which made every part of my body sing. But was it a lust in the moment thing that he'd totally regret the morning after? I know it happens. I've been there before.

We hadn't spent a lot of time together since that moment outside my bedroom – not because we were avoiding one another, but our missions seemed to triple overnight, the entire galaxy apparently against us. Although we hadn't talked about everything, the awkward aura that had always been between us had dissipated. I'm sure it didn't go unnoticed. Well, I know Pidge noticed; I often caught Pidge giving me and Keith the sly eye.

I sighed and lay back on my bed.

 _Lance and Keith. Keith and Lance._ Did I really say that to him?

There was a knocking at my door. I sighed and shouted: "It's unlocked."

I listened to the door open and close, ready for Pidge to pounce and tell me about a new level she's created for our game _that we'd have to play this very second_ , or Hunk bringing me a pre-midnight snack. But the voice I heard was unexpectedly Keith's. I sat up and looked at him incredulously. I expected us to talk at some point, sure, but wow. Keith coming to me?!

"We… need to talk about the other day," he eventually started. He voice was strangely even, as if each word was being measured and carefully selected. I nodded and shuffled to the edge of my bed, showing he had my fullest attention.

The room suddenly felt massive as he stood there, looking anywhere but at me, painfully cringing and mouth apparently sewn shut. He didn't realise how damn cute he was.

I took a breath to steady myself. "Okay, gonna' throw this out there. I've, uh, fantasied a lot about us, and you kinda' showing me whose boss, if you catch my drift. What we did was nothing short of wow even if it was brief." His cheeks started to burn a little and I couldn't help getting a little bit of satisfaction from that. "So, yeah. You know my feelings on that so… what are your feelings?" Okay, not my best work being eloquent there, but it was lot better than: I want you to seriously consider us sleeping together because you're the hottest being in the entire universe we know.

"What exactly do you fantasise happening between us?" he asked, eyebrow raised playfully.

With a grin I replied: "Truthfully? You probably don't want to know."

He rolled his eyes. "And I bet it's got nothing to do with mermaids, yeah?"

We chuckled, feeling the tension in the air splitting. For a moment it was bliss, then Keith crossed his arms and his smile wavered to a frown;

"What happened the other day, I… I don't know what to say, Lance."

I stood up and paced, an annoying habit of mine when I'm filled with too much nervous energy.

"Why did you kiss me? You know, originally."

Although our first encounter was weeks ago it's burned into my brain in exact detail. "I realised how much you meant to me during that battle, Keith. You're so heroic and just throw yourself in, damn the consequences, you know. But I don't know what I'd do without you around. It scared me and I wanted to teach you a lesson and, well, because I cared about you. Really cared."

Keith took a long time pondering my words. Agonisingly long.

"How did you feel about kissing me? Like, do you actually like me in that way or were you uncertain and testing the water," I continued. I inwardly cringed at the way I babbled. Where the hell is my off switch? "I won't be mad." But I will be heartbroken dependent on his answer.

I could feel the nervousness radiating from him as he responded, voice catching: "I like you…"

I sighed. If I was going to ruin it I was going to ruin it.

"I'm kinda' in love with you." I scratched my head and wanted anything to look away but, like a magnet, I couldn't _not_ look him in the eye. "I want you to want me, Keith-" He was staring at me so intently it was like I had to manually restart my brain. "Look, I don't want this to continue unless you genuinely want to reciprocate." Suddenly I felt super exposed, like the room was filled with people and they were scrutinising every word and movement. I'm not usually one to feel bashful but I could feel my cheeks heat under his gaze. "I don't want to play games. I want like what happened yesterday. I want everything about you, everything you can give me."

In that moment Keith turned slightly and looked so incredibly vulnerable, sad even.

"Keith, I'm not fooling around anymore. This is the truth. This is real. I love you and it's okay if you don't love me back, I just need to know where we stand so we can stay in each other's lives."

Instinctively I reached towards him. I paused, realising what I was doing, so I ended up standing like an awkward statue with one hand outstretched like a complete moron. Keith looked at me, expression still sad, and lightly padded the few paces towards me. Our fingers gently interlaced and we both paused, admiring how our fingers locked our hands together.

"I've… I've never really liked anyone in _that way_ before."

I blinked up, locking his gaze. I could believe that.

"All I know is that, everything seems so much more vivid when you're here. Like, I can see super clearly. And then the inside of my stomach feels tight when you look at me, and…" He sighed again, face matching the shade of his jacket. "The first time you kissed me it felt so weird and I'll admit I resented you for it. But, thinking about it, it wasn't because I didn't like you; it was more that I didn't know what to do with the feelings it started in me. Then the more we did it, the worse it got. Part of me couldn't wait for your next move, the other part wanted to self-destruct."

"Do you want this – me – in absolute seriousness?"

My heart was beating so loudly I swear he could hear it.

"Lance, I think I'm kinda' in love with you too."

A silence enveloped us as his words hung in the air. Slowly, I brought his hand to my lips.

"I want you to…" Keith trailed off as a sharp breath caught in his throat. I knew what he wanted me to do - us to do - without him spelling it out.

The room felt as though it'd turned up fifty degrees and something from the way he looked at me shot an electric-like current through my veins. My thoughts were a jumbled mess but my body switched to automatic as an overwhelming feeling of desire wrapped its luscious wings around me.

I wanted to be inside him. Or him inside me. Right now I didn't really care who went where.

Gripping the sides of his jacket I gently tugged, bringing us together. Kissing him lightly, I walked him towards my bed. I could feel his heart thundering as my hand brushed his chest as I helped him shrug his jacket off. It was like we were moving completely in sync as we arrived at my bed and crawled backwards until we were properly moving together atop it, my sheets tangling with each movement.

I straddled him as we sat together, his legs beneath me. Our lips were tightly locked as if any second would be our last.

He took hold of the hem of my shirt and lifted it up and over my head, his lips finding my neck as he threw my top away. One hand massaged the back of my neck while the other travelled over my chest, feeling along my ribs tenderly. We smiled to one another. I brushed my lips against his as I lightly pushed him down. My hands ran under his top, skimming up his muscled chest and back down again to rest on his stomach. All the time I watched his face, memorising every flicker and change as his anticipation built.

"Lance…" he breathed.

Okay. I wanted to take this slow and savour – really savour – every moment, but that wasn't going to happen. Not when he said my name like that.

Suddenly he flipped me over and I was looking up into his eyes as his body arched over me. I extended my neck to reach him and we kissed, tongues knitting together briefly. I bit my lip to stop myself from making an embarrassing sound threatening to escape my throat as his lips hungrily travelled down my chin, my neck and all the way down… I couldn't help myself. I raised myself to rest back on my elbows, so I could lock eyes with him, watch him. With a mischievous grin like a little boy breaking all of the rules, Keith unbuttoned my jeans-

I could tell he wanted to go further but he hovered there hesitating.

I reached forwards grasping the collar of his shirt, leading him crawling back up my body. Gently, I rolled him over, pulling his top over his head as we went so my hands could explore his alabaster skin, fingers tracing the battle scars scattered across his torso.

Unhinging his belt, I lightly touched him as I freed him from his zipper. Keith shifted slightly beneath me, ready, nervous, as my mouth teased and set to work and my hands eagerly stroked the inside of his thighs. A long, beautiful moan quickly greeted me in return.

My mouth, my heart – everything in me was hungry for more.

When he finished, I crawled back over him and pulled him against me, one hand at his back and the other at his chin, bringing our lips together again. His body continued to shake slightly as the heat continued to race through him. I'd been gentle but, oh my God, he must have wanted action as much as I did with the reaction I'd received.

 _Now I need to train him to do things for me…_

He perched up on his elbows, eyes locking with mine. Still gasping, he gulped and I could tell he wanted to say something but was weighing his options. At this point I'd probably do anything he asked me to. To encourage him I started working on his neck, my hands travelling back down to my favourite part. In response he groaned softly, eyes rolling back with pleasure.

"What do you think about me losing the pants?"

I moved my hand to rest on his hip, still keeping us close. We gazed into each other's eyes for a good minute as I waited for his breathing to calm enough to answer me.

The pants were coming off whether he liked it or not, but what happened next was completely up to him. Keith was new to anything like this. I didn't want to hurt him mentally or physically, or make him feel inadequate in any way – we all have to start somewhere, right?

Almost as soon as his mouth opened, the alarms stared blaring throughout the Castle.

I cursed the timing but on a positive note there's nothing like a deafening siren to provide the perfect cockblock to avoid any public embarrassment.

Neither of us could hide the disappointment in our expressions as I climbed off him. We scrambled up and while he worked on his trousers, I pulled on my top and found his jacket strewn on the floor. We were out of my bedroom in seconds. Looking at us no one would be none the wiser what had just happened and almost continued between us... although Keith's hair was a bit of a mess. The way he'd gripped at his hair, my sheets, would forever stay with me. With us... I couldn't hide my smile from the recent memory as I awkwardly patted it down as we ran together. Keith gingerly smiled in thanks as we burst onto the main deck.

Within mere minutes the entire team were ready in the control room, assembled and taking orders. Our time together in my room suddenly felt an age ago. Now it was action stations. Saving the world, unfortunately, would always take prominence over romance.

"Let's get to the Lions!" Shiro commanded as we exited from the control room, powering down through the castle to the hangar.

Just before the hangar doors, Keith suddenly stopped me. We let the others run out of sight before facing one another. Inside I felt like jelly, going from such a nervous high to my usual _oh God we might die in the next battle_. And now this…

Before anything smart or sarcastic could tumble from my mouth he had wrapped an arm round me, cupping the small of my back, bringing me close to him. Lightly, merely brushing my lips, he planted a kiss. His blue-grey eyes twinkled with something I'd never seen seen in him before.

I usually didn't like being the damsel but I couldn't help myself loving every second of confident, strong, chiselled Keith – the polar opposite of the hesitant man that had been lying beneath me only minutes ago.

I chuckled lightly under my breath. "What was that for?"

"That," he smirked. "That was for earlier."

Arms leaving me and turning on his heel, Keith darted into the hangar towards Red, shooting me a smile over his shoulder.

 _Keith. I absolutely, utterly and truly, loved that mullet head. And the best part? He was mine and I was his._


End file.
